Moral Fusion
by RLYoshi
Summary: A Pokémon trainer in Kalos starts his adventure, wanting to become a gym leader. However, he faces various problems along the way, from struggling with his troublesome starter Pokémon to dealing with the slow and sinister formation of the mysterious Team Octane. Everything seems to be going downhill not just for him, but for the entire region at this rate...
1. Prologue

I had never been one for Pokémon training. Becoming a trainer was, to me, just cause for needless walking and camping - neither of which I enjoyed, not being particularly fit. So staying at my home in Camphrier Town, with my parents mostly supporting me and my girlfriend Twila just a few houses down. It was a simple life, and I enjoyed it.

When I turned ten, my parents expected me to leave and go out adventuring, just like my older sister Gabrielle had. But I had learned well from what she talked about when she called or visited, and I saw her Pokémon team. Giant creatures that could barely all fit in one room, looking ready to fight me if I got too close. And she herself looked ragged most of the time; dirt stains on her legs, scars on her arms, sometimes rips on her clothes if she travelled through a particularly bad part of the region recently.

Yet she talked and laughed as though it were all a fun game. As though she wasn't putting her life at stake constantly by charging into places full of ghosts, fire breathers, poisonous snakes, and all sorts of other crazy dangerous..._things._

(Yeah, I know Pokémon are more than "things", but they freak me out sometimes, so I'm sorry if I get a little insensitive with my wording sometimes.)

At age eleven, my parents had given up on getting me going. I met Twila that year, and we hit it off. Most people thought it was just puppy love, but we've stayed together up until now with very few arguments. She's not much of a trainer either, instead preferring to take care of a little Skiddo at her house. She named her Roxy, and I have to admit, I liked her too despite not being a Pokémon fan. We'd often play with Roxy whenever I went over to her place, and that took up most of the day.

At age twelve, my sister didn't come home for Christmas like she always did. My parents seemed worried, but not so much that it passed onto me. If Gabrielle was dead, they would've been extra nervous. Parents seem to have that sort of connection with their kids. Besides, as dangerous as I made the training world out to be, trainers dying weren't much more common than any other human being.

It turned out that the reason she hadn't come home was because she was in Victory Road at the time, getting ready to challenge the Elite Four. My parents celebrated this almost as much as they celebrated Christmas, and I had no idea why. They explained to me the concept of the Elite Four, how beating them and the Champion would give you the chance to become the Champion yourself. I asked why the Champion didn't have thousands of people trying to fight them if that was the case, and they explained to me about gyms and gym leaders.

That's when the gears in my head began to turn, but it wasn't until I was thirteen (well, thirteen and a half) when I made my decision.

"I want to be a gym leader," I announced one day at dinner. My mother gave me an odd look, while my father laughed. "What?"

They didn't understand how their anti-training son had suddenly wanted to get involved with the Pokémon scene. I gave them my reasoning; how being a gym leader was cool, basically making you the "ruler" of that town and causing people to respect you, but at the same time, not giving you the huge responsibilities of being the Champion. Plus, it was like being a gatekeeper; people couldn't fight the Elite Four without beating you first.

When Gabrielle heard about it, though, she was very supportive. She came back for a visit after battling the Elite Four (and losing, apparently, but she took it in good stride) and offered to help me train, but I explained that I didn't even have a Pokémon yet.

"I can help you catch one," she offered. "We're right between a couple routes. We can go out now and get one."

I shook my head. "I don't think I'm ready for that just yet."

"If you want to become a gym leader, you have to be a trainer first. And to be a trainer, you have to go out in the wild."

"Yes, I know. But I'll have a Pokémon then, and I don't yet."

"...but you need to go out there to _get_ one."

I shrugged. "My birthday's in a few months. I can ask for one for my birthday. I'll get out of having to find one."

She chuckled. "Always looking for the easy way out. That's my Kent." She tousled my hair. I always liked it when she did that. It made me actually feel like a little brother rather than just some kid who hung out with her.

Unfortunately, she couldn't stay around much longer. A few days later, she was gone again, doing some more training before she challenged the Elite Four again. However, she promised to be back in time for my birthday - something that hadn't happened except by coincidence ever since she left.

Now, my fourteenth birthday was only a couple days away. My parents knew about my desire to be a gym leader (well, a trainer first) and my want of a Pokémon, and they knew I was all but asking them to get one for me.

With my birthday came a surprise, both expected and unexpected.


	2. Chapter 1: Happy Birthday

My birthdays were usually the same. I'd spend the first half of the day with my parents, just chatting and having a good time for a bit. Then I'd head over to Twila's house, where we'd play with Roxy until the sun set. I'd go back to my house, eat dinner with my parents, and go to bed. That was about it.

Today, things were slightly different. I was up two hours earlier than normal, but my parents were already up by then too. Apparently they had expected this. They weren't the only ones up, though, as I learned when I groggily yet anxiously walked downstairs in my Audino pajamas.

"Morning, Kent!" Twila greeted cheerfully.

I think I could've scared a Grass-type with the trail of flame I left behind me as I ran back up to my room to get properly cleaned and dressed.

When I came back down in a blue t-shirt and gray sweatpants, I found two giggling girls in the living room and my parents in the kitchen trying to talk casually. Of course, since they had been witness to my little freak out, it was pretty hard for them to-

_Two_ giggling girls?

I looked back to the living room, where the aforementioned females were now looking at me. In addition to Twila was the girl I hadn't spoken to in months. Gabrielle.

"Hey there, Kent," my sister greeted with a smile as she sat up straight. I smiled back and walked over, giving her a hug. "Told you I'd be here for your birthday."

I chuckled, broke from the hug, and gave one to Twila next. The three of us sat down on the couch, me in between the two of them.

"Did you challenge the Champion again?" I asked Gabrielle.

"Not yet. Still trying to level up my team some more." She noticed my confused look and smirked. "You'll understand what I mean soon enough."

"Speaking of which..." Twila instantly drew my attention. "Should I give him his present now?"

My heart skipped a beat. Gabrielle, however, put me in a fake headlock and tousled my hair. "Later. I want to spend time with the little guy first." She chuckled, and I chuckled along with her.

Twila sighed dramatically, but I could tell she was smiling. "Fine, fine..."

* * *

Gabrielle and I spent our time doing the same things we always did. We talked, we chased each other around the yard, we threw a ball, we played frisbee. For the first time, we played with one of her Pokémon; a Grumpig that I had always been scared around due to it being a Psychic-type. Back then, the only Pokémon types I were even slightly comfortable around were Normal, Grass, and maybe Water and Fighting. But now that I was going to become a gym leader (trainer first), I needed to get comfortable around all types.

It was just past noon when Twila walked up to us. We were just splayed out in the grass, staring up at the sky and casually chatting with one another. I got a pang of nostalgia, remembering how rarely we got to do this. Nevertheless, I was excited rather than annoyed when Twila interrupted it.

"Present time?" she asked Gabrielle, who nodded. I sat up, looking at my girlfriend anxiously. "So your parents told me about how you've been wanting to become a trainer..."

"Gym leader," I corrected. "Not a travelling trainer. That's just a means to an end."

She giggled. "Right, a gym leader. Either way, you're gonna need Pokémon for that." She reached into her pocket. "Unless you're specifically chosen by Professor Sycamore, you have to either catch or buy your own starter Pokémon, and buying them is expensive. A lot of trainers end up with a Bug-type or Normal-type to start out with because of that, since they prefer to just grab a couple Poké Balls and walk ten steps from their house to catch the first thing they see."

"Except me," Gabrielle added with a grin. "I spent about a year's worth of allowance on my Onix."

I remembered her Onix, which was a Steelix now. She had indeed spent a whole year saving up money to buy a good starter, not to mention spending that time raving about how cool it would be. I, of course, hadn't cared.

"Well, I decided to get Kent something special." She pulled a Poké Ball out of her pocket, slowly and dramatically. "Buying a Pokémon was way too expensive on short notice, and since rare types are almost unheard of around here, I did a little travelling and caught something neat." She chucked the ball to me, and I barely caught it. "Go ahead, Kent. Meet your starter."

I suddenly felt very nervous. In the palm of my hand was the beginning of my quest to become a gym leader - no longer "trainer first", but rather "trainer now". I was a Pokémon trainer...or rather, I would be as soon as I opened the ball.

Pushing the button on the front, I flinched as it popped open and bright light shot out onto the ground in front of me, materializing slowly into the shape of a Pokémon. After a second or two that felt like hours, the light faded, and in its place was…

"Kent, meet Blake!"

In front of me floated a silver sword with a gold handle. A blue gem that seemed to be an eye was in the center of the handle, and a long blue tassel extended from the end of the hilt. The tassel was currently holding a dark brown sheath like an arm, and it was looking at me.

"...meet who now?"

Twila smiled brightly. "Blake! He's a Honedge, and your new starter Pokémon!"

I looked it - him - over. He looked back. I reached out to touch him, gently stroking the hilt, and he made a noise that sounded like some sort of metallic coo.

_"~Hello there, trainer.~"_

I yelped and pulled my hand back, falling onto the ground as Twila and Gabrielle looked on in confusion. "Wh-what just-?"

Blake, as he seemed to be called, floated closer to me. _"~Did I startle you?~"_

"Startle me?! You just...how are you…?"

"...Kent?" Gabrielle asked, sounding concerned.

"It...he...talking to…!"

Twila giggled. "Oh, he's a Ghost-type! Ghost-types can infiltrate your mind and talk to you."

"_...you got me a Ghost-type?!_"

"Technically, he's a Steel-type," she corrected. "Ghost is just his secondary typing."

_"~Secondary or primary, though, it still allows me to converse with you.~"_ A metallic giggle came from his...mouth? Did he even have one? _"~I am glad to have you as a trainer. You are funny.~"_ His voice was like that of a young adult, but run through some sort of metallic filter and...well, ghostly, since it was kind of being forced into my brain rather than spoken. Needless to say, it creeped me out.

On one hand, I now had my starter, and it wasn't some common type everyone had a defense against - plus, this would save me the money of buying a translator collar for at least one member of my team. On the other hand, it was still a Ghost-type; easily the scariest type to me, aside from possibly Dark.

If she got me a Spiritomb or Sableye, I think I would've given up on my gym leader dream right then and there.

_"~Trainer?~"_ Blake's ghostly voice in my head jolted me out of my thought process. _"~Perhaps you should thank the girl who gave me to you.~"_

His reminder of proper manners made me wince inwardly at how I had forgotten them. I smiled - only slightly forced - at Twila. "Th-thank you...this is...this is awesome."

"I knew you'd love it!" she cheered, running over and hugging me. "You two better be good to each other! And make sure you become a great gym leader!"

I laughed and hugged back. "I'm not even leaving yet. Calm down. I'm sticking around for another week or so to get supplies first."

"Still..." She sighed and sat beside me, Gabrielle scooting over to join in and recreating the scene of us on the couch hours earlier. "I'm gonna miss you, you know."

I felt a small ache in my heart. "You could always come along, you know...you have Roxy..."

She shook her head. "Travelling just isn't for me. And Roxy wouldn't last long out there anyway." She giggled. "But you better come back and visit! If I don't see you again, I'm gonna hunt you down!"

I laughed. "I promise, I'll be back whenever I can. Can't spend all my time training, right?"

"Exactly," Gabrielle added, patting my shoulder. "I'll stick around in town for a week. When you think you're ready to get going, I'll bring you to Lumiose City. You're on your own from there."

I had never been to Lumiose City, but it was close enough to Camphrier that people from there sometimes passed through. I knew it was huge, and I knew one of the gyms was there, but that was the extent of my knowledge. Hopefully, there'd be some trainers there so I could get a headstart on training Blake up.

Speaking of which, the Honedge had gotten quiet. I looked over saw that he had inserted himself back into his sheath and was lying on the ground, eye closed. I chuckled, picked the ball back up, and recalled him.

My first ever Pokémon release and recall. And it was only going to go up from here.

I was ready.


	3. Chapter 2: Preparation and Exposition

When Gabrielle asked me if I wanted help picking out my supplies, I politely declined. The way I saw it, I already knew what I'd need, and if I forgot something I could pick it up in Lumiose City when we arrived there. She respected my wishes and didn't follow me to the store, but she did send me back several times when I forgot something extremely vital, often making me want to hit my head on a brick wall in the process.

"Did you pack food?"

"Yeah."

"For yourself and for your Pokémon?"

"...crap. Wait, how does a Honedge even eat?"

She chuckled. "Trust me, they do."

"I didn't ask if they did. I asked how."

"With their mouths."

"What mouths?!"

Variations on that conversation happened at least once a day. I even brought Blake himself out at one point and looked him over for any sort of mouth, much to his obvious confusion.

_"~Trainer, what are you doing?~"_

"Do you have a mouth?" I asked bluntly.

If Honedges had eyebrows, he would have raised one. _"~What type of question is-~"_

"Just answer it."

_"~Yes, I have a mouth.~"_

"Where?"

_"~On my face.~"_

"Where on your face?"

_"~Where my mouth is.~"_

"_Where is your mouth?_"

_"~On my face.~"_

I groaned and slapped my forehead with my hand. "You're just doing this to be annoying, aren't you?"

_"~I will not lie and say I am not.~"_

The mouth debacle aside, Blake and I got along somewhat well. He had a habit of screwing around with me whenever possible, such as sneaking up behind me and using Metal Sound. The first time that happened, I jumped so high in the air I could've caught a Staraptor while I was up there. After that, though, it just became a headache - figuratively and literally.

During one of my shopping trips where I was picking up Poké Balls (Gabrielle said she'd give me a few, but I didn't want to run the risk of losing or breaking some), Twila came along, and I asked her what moves Blake knew.

"He already knew Tackle, Swords Dance, Fury Cutter, and Metal Sound when I caught him," she said, thinking back. "I trained him up a bit, so I think he knows Pursuit now. But he's only level fourteen, so it'll be a while before he learns anything else."

"None of those sound very strong," I mentioned. "How often does he learn new moves?"

"Every few levels. You can always use TMs or HMs on him, though, but those aren't very easy to find nowadays."

I sighed. That much I knew. With all the trainers running around, you'd expect a few of them to accidentally drop items or TMs out of their pockets or backpacks. That's usually where other trainers who were stuck out in the wild for long periods of time would get their supplies; off the ground, thanks to the clumsiness (or generosity, if it was left on purpose) of others.

But lately, trainers had been getting more cautious. Finding even a Poké Ball on the ground was considered a stroke of luck, even if you were in a part of the region infested with Pokémon so high a level that anything less than an Ultra Ball was pretty much useless. I wasn't sure when this sudden carefulness took over, or if it was even something to worry about; for all I knew, maybe trainers were just being taught nowadays to always double-check their belongings before moving more than a few yards.

So the only way to get TMs or HMs would be through receiving them as gifts, or buying them. I couldn't afford the latter, since I was already spending half my money on starting supplies and would need the other half getting more as time went on. Hopefully I'd be able to beat enough trainers to keep my wallet full. A Pokémon trainer running out of money was never a good thing, since that usually ended up with the trainer needing to borrow enough money to travel back home and basically give up their journey until they could earn more.

I gulped. If that happened to me, I don't think I'd be able to handle it. My journey wasn't going to be as long as a normal trainer's, since challenging the Elite Four wasn't a requirement for becoming a gym leader (though having all eight badges was). So if I had to give up early when I already didn't have to do a major portion of it, that'd just be a Mega Punch to my ego. Not to mention my chances of becoming a gym leader.

"How does it work?"

I was jolted out of my thoughts and looked at Twila. "Huh?"

"You've done your research on this gym leader thing, right?" she asked. I nodded. "How does it work? Like, how do you become one?"

I sighed. This was going to be tough to explain properly. I opted for the laconic version. "Basically, once you have all eight badges and a team of at least four Pokémon - or three, if you want to be one of the earlier gym leaders - you can request a meeting with one of the Elite Four to apply for a job as a leader. This usually involves them checking out your team, your personality, testing your strength in a few ways - some of which are kind of out of the ordinary - and eventually getting you checked out by the Champion herself."

She nodded slowly. "And...is that it?"

"Well, obviously, you have to pass all of it and be approved. Which isn't very easy, actually, since a gym leader has to sort of be a mayor for that town or city as well. It's not just about fighting; it's about dealing with people good and bad, protecting trainers, taking care of Pokémon, and more. The battling and handing out badges is just the part everyone talks about." I chuckled. "Apparently, if you apply without realizing this, they chase you off with Ice Beams."

Twila laughed. "That's one way of being rejected."

I nodded. "Not many people get through, simply because there's so many stages that applicants give up partway through. The process can take weeks or months, especially if they decide to go through multiple people at once. They tend to only get a couple people per year who actually get the job, and even then they can't actually do anything unless a gym leader in one of the regions dies or resigns."

"So they just have trainers lined up to take their places?"

"Pretty much. Though once you're deemed good enough, they'll often have you take on the role of a gym trainer somewhere until a spot opens up for you, so at least you don't have to wait around doing nothing for a few months. And at least one gym leader resigns every year in some region or other, so even if you have to get flown out to take your job, you won't _not_ get one."

"You really _have_ looked into this, huh?" she asked with a giggle.

I smirked. "Can't follow a dream you know nothing about, right?"

"Right."


	4. Chapter 3: The Road to Future Dreams

I ended up staying in Camphrier for two weeks, not one.

Granted, this wasn't all my fault. My parents insisted on spending time with me, and since I had used pretty much every day of the first week for either gathering supplies or getting used to my Honedge, they felt a little gypped. Twila felt the same, but at least she had been with me for a lot of the time with Blake, so I only had to spend one full day with her.

Gabrielle was surprisingly lax about the whole thing. For a girl who wanted to get training done so she could potentially become the next Champion, she was very willing to waste half a month helping her little brother with a mostly irrelevant journey. Then again, for all I knew, she was just getting some training in when I wasn't around.

Nevertheless, the two weeks soon came to a close, and I was up bright and early getting ready to leave. I pulled on clothes that were comfy, but would still last in harsh environments. Black jeans, white t-shirt, blue-and-yellow hoodie, green tuque, black fingerless gloves, and blue sneakers with plain white socks. Nothing too out of the ordinary, but nothing that wouldn't last a trip across Kalos either. And, of course, I had a belt with six notches to put Poké Balls; currently, only one spot was taken.

I set about to packing. The birthday gift from my parents two weeks prior had been a trainer's bag - a special backpack that condensed items down as they were put inside, allowing it to carry over ten times as much stuff as the size of it would have you believe, and it was rather big to begin with. Apparently they were made with technology similar to what allowed a Poké Ball to hold giant creatures like a Gyarados, or a Tentacruel, or a Wailord. (I wondered to myself why all the really big non-Legendary Pokémon seemed to be Water-types.)

Potions, Poké Balls, food for myself and my Pokémon, clothes (most of which were just clean changes of the same outfit I had that day), some personal belongings, a map of the region, a sleeping bag, and a blanket. I kept my wallet in my back pocket. Contrary to popular belief, you didn't need a Pokédex to become a trainer; in fact, they were only ever given out to you if someone like Professor Sycamore sensed "great potential" in you as a trainer. Otherwise, you had to buy one yourself, and they were _not_ cheap. Considering all they really did was tell you about a Pokémon if you knew nothing about it, I didn't see a point in picking one up.

After all, I had Blake. Blake was a Pokémon, and he knew most of the other species' - at least, any that would be found in West Kalos, since that's where he lived until being captured. I was going to be spending most of my beginning there anyway, so I didn't need to worry about running into anything completely unexpected just yet.

Speaking of whom, I decided to let the Honedge out for this. It wasn't uncommon for a trainer to have one Pokémon out on a constant basis - two if they weren't much trouble - and there really was no reason to keep Blake trapped in a ball until I needed him.

The floating sword came out, sheath still on, with some sort of giggle. Every time I brought him out, he made the same sound; a small ghostly laugh with a metallic ring to it. Considering his typing, I guess it made sense. _"~Trainer, are we leaving now?~"_

I nodded. "All packed and ready to go." I hoisted my backpack onto my shoulders, stood up, and headed for the door to my room. "I know you're a Ghost-type, but try to behave yourself, okay?"

He huffed. _"~You should not judge me based on typing alone.~"_

"I'm not. But with how you've been playing with Metal Sound, I'm pretty sure you fit the 'playful ghost' stereotype."

Before we left, I turned to look back at my room. I felt a bit of a pain in my heart when I realized I would likely not see it for a long time, and unless I gave up my journey, it would never be _mine_ again. Just a guest room that I would happen to sleep in when I dropped by for visits. Everything personal had either been packed in my bag or moved into storage down in the basement - in the case of the latter, I knew it'd just collect dust there for a year or two before I'd come visit, look at it, and cart it off to be sold to continue funding my training.

I knew that, because that's what Gabrielle did, and that's why the basement was so empty before I moved my things in.

Sighing, I shut the door. Blake laid his tassel on my shoulder comfortingly, and I smiled at him. After a moment, I continued down the hallway, down to where Gabrielle and Twila were waiting in the living room.

Twila was hugging me before I even realized she was there. "Don't get yourself killed! Please!"

I rolled my eyes, but hugged back. "Great advice. I'll let you know if I manage to follow it."

She sighed and broke the hug, but she was smiling in amusement. "I know we did goodbyes yesterday, but...still...I wanted to see you one last time."

I chuckled. The goodbyes weren't over yet, I guessed. I had taken care of them the day before (or so I thought) so that I could get going bright and early in the morning without staying around another couple hours. My parents had agreed to that, albeit reluctantly, and promised not to do anything other than hug me on the way out the door in exchange for about two hours of "I'll miss you" and "Come back and visit" the day before I left.

And sure enough, they were there too, right at the front door. They weren't necessarily crying (my mom did enough of that during the actual goodbyes), but I could tell they were a little upset at losing their second child. Never mind the fact that they had wanted me to be a trainer like Gabrielle until I turned eleven.

Everything was quiet, almost as though I was going to war rather than just going off to become a trainer - well, gym leader. But it was quiet simply because there was nothing to say. I was told "I love you" three times, I was hugged three times, and Twila kissed me once. (Blake snickered at that.) I responded to all these in kind (except the snickering), nodded to them all, and opened the-

"_Did you remember to pack clean clothes?_"

I groaned as the mood was completely ruined. "_Yes,_ mom..."

"Oh, don't give me that tone."

* * *

I got away without much more fuss. Blake floated quietly on my left while Gabrielle walked somewhat less quietly on my right, me in between them and slightly ahead. It suddenly hit me what was going on.

I was leaving home, with a Pokémon, to become a trainer. And, eventually, a gym leader. My sister was helping me with the first few steps, and then I was on my own with a ghostly sword and basic supplies.

Blake floated up beside me. _"~I sense that you are worried, trainer?~"_

I could only nod. This would either end very nicely, or very badly.


	5. Chapter 4: Blue

Most kids would be excited to start their Pokémon journey. Especially if said journey involved them having a Ghost-type giant sword as their starter, an older sister who's just a little training away from becoming the next Champion helping them along the way, and plenty of research already done so they wouldn't come across anything in the entire region that they didn't know about (or that their aforementioned Ghost-type sword couldn't tell them about).

And while that was cool and all, sadly, I couldn't find it in me to be excited after the first day away from home. Sleeping outdoors led to waking up in the middle of the night with a Gulpin napping on my chest, which might not have freaked me out as much as it did if my research hadn't told me that Gulpin were Poison-types. Even after Blake chased it away, I refused to sleep for fear of something else using me as a bed.

How Gabrielle was able to sleep through the entire ruckus, I didn't know until the next day. One of her Pokémon knew Yawn, so to keep herself rested, she had that Pokémon use Yawn on her every night. It'd put her to sleep within a few minutes and wake up almost exactly eight hours later as the sun rose.

That, I knew, was one example of what made a good trainer: using their Pokémon's abilities for more than just battle. I remember having a neighbour once who constantly lost his keys, so he bought a Klefki from a breeder and taught it to mold its keys to fit in each of his locks. I had been surprised he thought of doing that (or knew that Klefki could do that in the first place), and when I asked how he did, he explained that he used to be the Champion of another region. Of course, back then, I was too young to understand what he meant and just assumed that meant he was a foreign trainer.

"What's with you?" Gabrielle suddenly asked, snapping me out of my thoughts. "You haven't said a word all day since 'good morning'."

I yawned and rubbed my eyes. "Just tired...I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't get back to sleep." I could've sworn I saw Blake's eye roll.

Gabrielle laughed. "Don't worry, all early trainers are like that. It's hard to sleep in a completely different environment than you're used to. You'll get used to it sooner or later."

_"~I find it unlikely that he will grow used to waking up with a Gulpin on his chest.~"_ Oh, great. I forgot that Blake had established communication with Gabrielle as well.

She laughed even more. "Really? Scared of a green ball of goop?"

"It's a Poison-type!" I defended. "I thought it might use Toxic on me or something!"

_"~Also, I feel it necessary to add that it was not green,~"_ Blake added. _"~Perhaps you are thinking of something else?~"_

Gabrielle instantly stopped laughing. She turned to Blake. "What?"

_"~The Pokémon Kent saw was not green.~"_

"...what colour was it?"

_"~Blue.~"_

"Bring me to it. Now."

I blinked. "Uh...Gabrielle...Blake chased it away. I'm pretty sure it's not gonna be in the same place."

"Gulpin are slow and lazy. It probably hasn't moved too far away." She smirked. "Besides, a blue Gulpin is easy to spot."

"Yeah, I was gonna ask about that. Gulpin are green. It was definitely a Gulpin."

Blake turned to me. _"~Trainer, I am a Ghost-type. As such, I can see in the dark, and I saw perfectly clear that the...Gulpin...was blue. In the darkness, were you able to properly identify its colour?~"_

I opened my mouth, then shut it again and thought. Then I spoke properly. "...it looked like a Gulpin other than that."

And so we began walking back the way we came, Blake in the lead. We got back to the spot where we had slept, and Gabrielle began looking around.

"Where'd you chase it off to, Blake?"

_"~Nowhere in particular. I merely chased it off of Kent and let it run away on its own.~"_

"Fine. Where'd it go?"

_"~Into the purple flowers.~"_

Gabrielle, without hesitation, pulled out a Poké Ball and walked off into the tall purple flowers. Blake and I exchanged a look, then followed, wondering what was going on.

We didn't need to walk far at all. Gabrielle came back to us before we had even gone ten steps in. Well, for me they were steps. For Blake, they were more like...floating spaces. You get what I mean. Either way, she came back and quickly ushered us out of the flowers.

"Don't walk around in these too much," she warned. "When you're in tall grass or flowers or whatnot, you risk kicking or stepping on a Pokémon."

She was right, of course. Seeing anything past your knees in the grass was literally impossible because of how dense it was, though oddly it didn't impede walking. And if you bumped into a wild Pokémon, it would likely attack without hesitation.

"Did you catch it?" I asked, noticing she still held a Poké Ball.

She grinned. "Yep. Shiny Gulpin."

"Shiny?"

"Shiny. You know, rare?" She tossed the ball up and caught it a few times. "I've seen them before, but this is the first one I've actually caught."

I blinked. "Huh..."

She suddenly smiled and looked at me. "Hey...since I just caught a low-level Pokémon, you know what this is a perfect opportunity for?"

"What?"

"A battle."

My blood ran cold. "A...battle?"

It was bad enough thinking of fighting a trainer I knew was much more experienced, but...my sister? Sure, the Gulpin was likely a low level, but that didn't mean she was.

"Yeah. You haven't had one yet. Wouldn't it be better to have your first battle be against someone you know rather than a complete stranger who'd take your money afterwards?"

She had a point. I sighed and looked at Blake. He seemed neutral to the idea, but then again, he couldn't show much emotion anyway. I looked back to Gabrielle and nodded. "Sure."


End file.
